Brazil Arrests Former President Bolsonaro Over Suspected Flight Risk

Brazil’s Federal Police preventively detained former president Jair Bolsonaro this Saturday, just days before he was set to begin serving his 27-year sentence for leading an attempted coup d’état after the 2022 elections, according to judicial sources and local media.

Bolsonaro, 70, had been under house arrest since last August, monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet, after the Supreme Court convicted him of crimes including armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic State, coup, and damage to public buildings, following the events of January 2023 during the inauguration of current president Lula da Silva.

After his transfer to a Federal Police facility in Brasília, the judicial system must now decide in which prison he will serve his sentence, a decision that may also depend on his health condition.

The preventive detention order aims to guarantee public order, according to the Court, and to prevent a repetition of incidents similar to those of January 2023. Moreover, this episode comes at a crucial moment: Bolsonaro was about to begin his sentence after exhausting the first stages of appeal.

Brazil arrests former President Bolsonaro over suspected flight risk

The arrest was carried out following a ruling by Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered his preventive detention on the grounds that Bolsonaro had allegedly attempted to break the tracking device on his ankle, which was interpreted as an attempt to flee.

According to the judicial decision, that attempt occurred during a demonstration called by one of his sons outside his residence in Brasília, which, according to the Court, would have been part of a plan to facilitate his escape.

Authorities feared that the former president might seek protection in a nearby diplomatic embassy to request political asylum, as part of a decisive maneuver to evade his sentence.

In September, a Supreme Court panel sentenced him to 27 years and 3 months in prison. Four of the court’s five justices found him guilty on five charges related to the conspiracy to keep him in power after losing the election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Bolsonaro orchestrated a systematic plan to undermine democratic institutions, including a plot to assassinate Lula, former vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes, among others.

In its ruling, the court noted that an important part of the plot was linked to the assault on the three branches of government carried out by Bolsonaro supporters on January 8, 2023, in Brasília.

Senator Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the former president, denounced what he considers to be the “inhumane imprisonment” of his father in a lengthy comment on his social media account.

“It is not a precautionary measure, a preventive arrest, or any other term the regime’s servants use to soften this abomination. We must have the courage to say exactly what is happening: Supreme court justice Moraes is trying to finish the job that the former Socialist and Liberty Party (PSOL), Adélio Bispo, began when stabbed my father Jair Bolsonaro in in the 2018 campaign”, he said.

🇧🇷 ABOUT BOLSONARO’S INHUMANE IMPRISONMENT TODAY

It is not a precautionary measure, a preventive arrest, or any other term the regime’s servants use to soften this abomination. We must have the courage to say exactly what is happening:

Supreme court justice Moraes is trying to… pic.twitter.com/MIlVsD4UKr

— Eduardo Bolsonaro🇧🇷 (@BolsonaroSP) November 22, 2025

Health, appeals, and protests by supporters of the former president

Bolsonaro’s defense had requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest on humanitarian grounds, arguing his deteriorating health. However, the court rejected those appeals. In fact, in recent days the Supreme Court dismissed several formal motions filed by his defense, clearing the way for his entry into prison.

Justice Moraes had already warned that any violation of precautionary measures — such as using social media or disobeying court orders — would lead to the revocation of his house arrest.

Bolsonaro’s arrest marks the first case of a former president convicted for an attempted coup and brought before the justice system to serve such a severe sentence for subverting democracy.

The police operation not only highlights the country’s internal tensions but also the deep political divisions that persist. For many in Brazil, his sentence and arrest represent a vindication of democratic justice; for others, an act of high-level political persecution.

Meanwhile, the arrest has triggered immediate reactions: some Bolsonaro allies describe it as “political persecution,” while opponents celebrate what they consider an institutional victory against authoritarianism.

In addition, there is a mobilization of Bolsonaro supporters, called by the former president’s son, to challenge a sentence already upheld by the appeals court and which, barring a possible amnesty law, has no further path in the judicial system.